New coronavirus cases in Kentucky continue to drop, but rate remains tops in nation and deaths from Covid-19 remain high

New York Times map as of 9 p.m. Monday, Feb. 20

By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News

New coronavirus cases in Kentucky have dropped for three weeks in a row, but the state's new-case rate remains first in the nation, and deaths in the state from Covid-19 remain high, above this year's average.

The state Department for Public Health's latest weekly report says there were 3,625 new cases of the virus last week, or nearly 518 per day, That's a 10.8% drop from the week before and a 43% drop from the Jan. 30 report, which had 6,369 new cases. 

The share of Kentuckians testing positive for the virus in the past seven days was 10.14%, up from 9.92% the week prior. These numbers do not reflect at-home testing. 

The weekly new-case rate was 11.16 cases per 100,000 residents, down from 13.99 cases in the prior weekly report. The top 10 counties were Elliott, 49.4; Clinton, 36.4; Lee, 30.9; Morgan, 30.1; Oldham, 29.7; Woodford, 21.4; Gallatin, 20.9; Perry, 20; Rockcastle, 19.7; and Greenup, 19.5.

The New York Times ranks Kentucky's weekly new-case rate first in the nation, even with a 5% drop in the last two weeks. The Times says three Kentucky counties are among the top 10 for the most cases per 100,000 residents in the last week: Fayette, Clark and Greenup. 

Kentucky's Covid-19 hospital numbers are down. The state's hospitals reported 359 patients with Covid-19 on Monday, 27 fewer than a week earlier; 44 Covid-19 patients were in intensive care, down six; and 15 were on mechanical ventilation, down eight. 

The state attributed 56 more deaths to Covid-19 last week, down from 61 the week before, but still above the weekly average of 48 recorded since Jan. 2.  The state's pandemic death toll is now 18,055. 

Nationwide, "Deaths remain persistently high," the Times reports. "On average, around 3,000 people are dying of Covid in the U.S. each week."